SH Spotlight Some Records Were Recorded OUT of Phase

On my ARC pre I have an 'invert' button and most of the times - like 98% - I hear no difference when I invert the polarity BUT on 3 LPs/CDs by The Who - Sellout, Quadrophenia and Who's Next the recording was dramatically changed when the polarity was reversed. The bass was the most noticeable difference as Entwistle's bass lime extended about another 1/2 octave deeper!!!! I heard subterranean bass being produced that I never heard before and the balance of the recording changed to a degree. To say I was surprised is an understatement.

On early Moody Blues records I heard an expanded soundstage.

No, I'm not crazy . . . yet.

 

Of course

 

There is the known Skylarking issue later corrected.

 

Paul McCartney's "Ram".

 

It's a flip of a coin as to whether any given recording has correct absolute phase or not. This has never been something that recording engineers have paid attention to. And it is more common than you might think for amplifiers to invert phase.

You simply have one recording which is apparently more sensitive to the absolute phase than are most. But here's the more interesting question: Is it possible that you might actually be preferring the sound when the absolute phase has been reversed? Because it's not like there's any way to truly know which way is correct with any given recording...

I say listen to the sound in whatever manner makes the experience the most enjoyable to your ears. And if flipping the phase improves the sound for your ears, then the more power to you!

 

I never noticed it until I had access to a button on the ARC remote that flips quickly. Some recordings are subtle, most have no effect, once in a while it is quite noticeable. When it is noticeable the bass has more inpact and sometimes the image moves forward into the room. Or the opposite if inverting at playback makes it wrong.

 

Right you are, pretty much every Dire Straits record was recorded out of phase too among many others.

 

We used to like oop. Now we like the a center image along with bass notes in the center deep in the middle. Highlights sprinkled here and there.

lots of Bill Frisell stuff oop.

 

In the 90's some bands deliberately mixed things out of phase as an effect; most notably NIN's Broken EP
Also, my beloved Curve's title track to the movie Nowhere.

Also, there was "Q" sound which played with phase to make a surround sound effect with two speakers.

 

Which version of Sell Out. It's one of my favourite album of all time, so I'm interested here!

It is a bit different here. It is litteraly out of phase. There was a problem on the recording machine and from what I heard it is difficult to correct. What the OP meant was 'inverted phase'.

 

Wasn’t there a polarity issue with the 87 Revolver CD too?

I didn’t know it was that wide spread of an issue!

 

Frank Zappa did that too, going back at least to the 70's.

 

I remember reading this in the notes of a Moby Grape comp, The Very Best of Moby Grape- Vintage.

Producer's Note:
Except where noted, the material on this set was digitally transferred from original producer David Rubinson's 2-track stereo masters. As a result of his vision and experimentation (i.e.: purposely placing the background vocals out of phase, thereby successfully achieving a unique spaciousness in the mix), some of the earlier cuts will not be entirely mono compatible. We have included the tracks "Omaha" and "Hey Grandma" in their original mono mix form as well.

 

The ALLEGED polarity issue. Rundgren says Andy P. doesn't know what he's talking about. Steven Wilson remixed it, and I don't remember him commenting on phase issues.

 

I recall a friend who flipped the speaker leads on an out of phase recording and it ruined it for him. Be careful what you wish for.

 

I always thought the effect on this record was due to phasing, but I could be incredibly wrong. If so, this must be one of the earliest intentional uses of the effect. @Steve Hoffman do you have any background info on this record and how this was recorded?

 

The late, great John Dent was the mastering engineer who discovered this issue, not Andy.

 

The effect on the Miss Toni Fisher recording was initially accidental too! Here's Gold Star Studios co-owner Stan Ross and the studio engineer Larry Levine discussing on Art Fein's old show what Steve described above:

 

In phase , out of phase, normal phase...whatever. Hell of a great song.

 

I wonder how many tokers in the 60s even noticed.